This week’s edition of nScreen Noise is all about cord-cuttings. PwC released data drawn from a debate between Columbia Business School and Virginia Commonwealth University. The two schools debated the question “Should advertisers worry about cord-cutting?” PwC’s assessment of the issues was that “The impact to the pay-TV industry over at least the next few years will be minimal.”

Cowen and Company weighed in with new data about Netflix subscribers. The company found that 23% claimed to have cut the cord. This is in sharp contrast to data from The Diffusion Group. TDG found that just 11% did not have a pay-TV subscription and that this was actually less than the average broadband user.

Finally, Informa released data this week showing that pay TV subscriptions in Europe had fallen for the first time ever. 93M European homes have a pay-TV subscription, down 4% on the previous year. Italy led the fall with a whopping 9% loss followed by Spain with 6%.

Clearly the predominant factor driving cord-cutting in Europe is economic. Unfortunately, it is not just due to depressed economies. Pay-TV subscriptions continue to outpace inflation making it more likely those leaving will never come back.
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